My Rant about Social Services in the US

Yes -- I'm a liberal and now you get to hear one of the many reasons why.


Minneapolis has School Choice. And in January (Jan 10) to be exact, I downloaded the School Choice card, filled it out and immediately put it in the mail. I wanted to get my daughter signed up for the High Five Program as suggested by the Early Childhood Screening group for MPLS Public Schools (MPS). You have to get it in right away they said. So I did. It is always a bit of a gamble to get the kids in the school you want here, especially since we live in an Open Choice Area which means that there is no assigned school for them -- no community school.

You've heard me previously say that I like the community school idea. It causes me a great deal of stress not knowing where my kids will be going to school. I do like that I can pull them out and drive them some place else if I feel the need.

Anyhow, back to today's rant.

I did everything I was supposed to do. I called a couple of times when they were supposed to be doing the assignments and was told that High Five was done later. I waited until and called. Not done yet. I called again today.

My daughter was not placed. I asked at our first choice school? Not placed at first school. Why? The program was full. What about our second choice school? Again program full. What about any of the schools? I am willing to drive her wherever and I've got a friend who I am fairly sure would pick her up and earn a little extra cash. Nope, no space. Not in any of the schools.

Now, I'm getting a little angry. I told him that I'd done all the things I was told I had to do to get her in. I sent in our card right away. I called in to follow up. Why wasn't she placed?

We make too much money.

Yep, we both work to barely make ends meet. Like most of America, we are a couple of paychecks away from homeless. But because we are not already on government assistance, we can not get in to this program that is open to ALL MPS kids.

I really dislike that our government and its laws and rules only subsidizes the very poor and the very wealthy. And all of us who are in the middle are SOL. Even if I had no job, we still wouldn't qualify for the program. Not that we'd be able to live off of the one income. I wouldn't have any idea how we'd feed our family but we'd be too rich to get any aid.

It makes me very angry that I have to be destitute and homeless or very wealthy to actually gain any benefits from my country and all the money that we pay in taxes. I get screwed. My family gets screwed. Most of you reading this have gotten screwed. You may not have even known it. You may have gone through life like my parents have and I will -- struggling to get the basic needs of your kids met on a day to day basis.

Once again, I'll go back to the drawing board and find a way to cut expenses here and there and find the money for us to send Itty Bitty to preschool.





Note: I certainly do not think the poor should lose their benefits. I think that the wealthiest 1 to 2% that hold most of the wealth in this country need to pay more taxes so that the social services can really help out everyone who needs a helping hand... Like I should be able to get my kid in the MPS school assignments!!!

We Win! For now...

The School Options, AKA School Closings, are postponed indefinitely.

I really like the two different versions of the story that has come out.

The Superintendent is the one who came up with this brilliant plan of closing successful schools and putting them in old, inappropriate buildings. Here is his announcement on it.

Minneapolis Public Schools postpones Changing School Options timeline

May 6, 2009


Last night at a working session, the Minneapolis Board of Education raised additional questions and submitted alternative ideas to the administration’s recommendation for Changing School Options submitted Tuesday, April 28, 2009. The Board was scheduled to vote on the plan on May 26, 2009, for changes that would go into effect in the 2010-2011 school year. Board members indicated the recommendation in its current form would not gain the majority vote required to pass on May 26.

Minneapolis Public Schools’ leadership is in the process of studying the potential impacts of the Board’s ideas. Because these decisions are complex and critical, the process of analyzing the impact of different ideas requires time and careful deliberation. Therefore, previously announced community engagement meetings for May will be postponed. We will notify our families and communities as soon as we are able to establish a new schedule, likely within the next week.

In the meantime, please know that doing what is best for our students, raising academic achievement and creating a sustainable school district for the future is at the heart of our decision-making. We would like to acknowledge the families’ investment of time and energy that has informed our planning every step of the way. We need, appreciate and want our families’ continued involvement.

Superintendent Bill Green

Now the paper reported on it too. Here are excerpts from their article:

Board chair Tom Madden described the plan as "DOA" or "dead on arrival" during a working session of the board Tuesday night.

"Last night was a big success in my mind," Madden said Wednesday. "We would have been voting on May 26, and it would have failed. I was hopeful going in and very pleased coming out."

...

Board members also questioned closing Pratt Community School and relocating Northrop Urban Environmental School to the larger Folwell Middle School site, after it closes.

Pratt is in southeast Minneapolis near the University of Minnesota and is the district's smallest school with fewer than 180 students. Northrop and Pratt are both K-5 elementary schools.

Board Member Chris Stewart questioned closing small schools, such as Pratt, that have been successful with low-income students as opposed to larger schools that aren't faring well.

The district has eight elementary schools-- many of them large -- that are restructuring or preparing to restructure under federal law due to low performance.

"I want to say I'm sick of worrying about Pratt every two years," Stewart said.

Said parent Becky Sun: "I'm relieved that they're reconsidering whether to close Pratt, but I won't breathe a sigh of relief until it's all over and Pratt is still open. I'm optimistic, but I'm not going to say it's all over until it's in print."

Costain urged the administration to draft a plan that is more specific about open attendance areas. She said the district should consider a proposal from families in the Kingfield/East Lake Harriet neighborhood to link Barton Open and Lyndale elementary schools as a K-8 campus and make it their community school. It could mean Barton Open's program moves to Ramsey Fine Arts School.

Said Madden: "They're trying to assess the changes [we suggested] and the ramifications of that and what that does to the timeline."

So... Let's see... The plan was to close schools that were successful with very diverse student populations with parents opposing the school closings very vocally. Then... leave alone the failing schools that have to be restructured anyhow due to No Child Left Behind Laws. And completely ignore closing the schools that PARENTS of students in those schools suggested closing... Hmm...

Why would you close successful schools operating at a lower cost than failing schools? I'm not certain about Pratt but Northrop has done a great job of leveraging their parent volunteers, creating a great grant writing team to get in more money for projects and specialty learning programs, and doing community outreach with local parks, businesses, and other higher ed schools. They run their school more cost effectively than most other schools in the district. And it isn't that they are a white, middle class school. More than 70% of the students are from families at or below poverty level. Northrop is succeeding against the odds and obstacles were most schools with similar demographics are failing.

I am very happy to see that the elected school board had a clue and stood up for what was right fiscally and educationally for our children. Superintendent Green seems to be really out of touch. He's been here for a while as part of the Board, as deputy superintendent and then acting Superintendent and now Superintendent. He's been involved with Minneapolis Schools since at least 1993. He should be in touch. He should know what is happening.


Phew! Let's see what they try next...

Because I have about 5 minutes to spare

Ahh... Elton John & Billy Joel concert tickets are being given away on the radio... Sigh.

Yesterday, I went home exhausted. A couple of years ago, I was incredibly interested in the bird flu H5N1 and became the Subject Matter Expert (SME) on our account. Well, now this swine flu has come along and all of my days are full of swine flu news and data and statistics and planning and prevention and... and... and... I don't get to turn it off though when I've had enough because I have to be on top of it as much as possible. So it is all flu all day. I suspect that today, I will go home exhausted as well.

Meanwhile, the school district is closing schools and making decisions that don't seem to go along with the community's focus nor that seem to make fiscal sense. The school that the boy goes to and we were intending sending Itty Bitty to is on the list of closing schools. They are closing down the newer school that is appropriate for elementary kids and is smaller... and reopening it (same teachers, still elementary) in a older, middle school location. The 'new' location is an old building that looks like a prison. It is huge and currently has no playground. It is not appropriate for an elementary school. They are going to have to spend a good deal of money to make this building feel right for little kids. It is just beyond me. I hear that this bigger building though brings in outside revenue from renting out space to a theater group and several different intermural community sports.

Minneapolis, like most cities, has many neighborhoods that each have an individual feel to them. I like to think that ours has a sort of laid back, young family, environmentally conscious feel to it. There is a good deal of focus on shopping locally, urban environmentalism, usage of the community centers, etc. It's a fairly safe part of the city without being in the upper middle or upper class sections.

The school board says that it wants to create community schools. I like this idea. I like the idea of my kids going to school with their neighbors and getting to know them. Let's face it -- we adults don't often do a good job of meeting and getting to know our neighbors. But the kids do! They don't really care who they are as long as they find a playmate.

However they are removing the urban enviromental focus. They are putting the kids in a big school. The school is not elementary age ready.



And now... my five minutes are up... Back to Flu, flu, flu